Salt Lake roundabout fixes planned

Question: Since I have been here since the construction of the turnabout in Salt Lake, I have seen little maintenance. It is full of weeds and seems to be ignored completely. Whose responsibility is it?

Answer: You should begin seeing an improvement next month.

The city Department of Parks and Recreation is responsible for maintaining the roundabout at Likini Street and Ala Napunani, contracting out the work to a private company.

It acknowledges the "poor condition" of the roundabout and did not renew its contract with the former maintenance company "due to nonperformance," said Dana Takahara-Dias, deputy parks director.

Paradise Landscape Maintenance has been given the new one-year contract, beginning Oct. 1. It will be paid $152 a month to mow and trim the grass every other week, irrigate at least twice a week, make minor repairs on the irrigation system as needed, keep the traffic calming curbing area free of debris, weed landscaped areas, remove litter at least once a week and remove graffiti as needed, Takahara-Dias said.

In the meantime, the Parks Department needs to replace a defective irrigation valve to provide sufficient water for the landscape, she said.

Q: We have someone in our neighborhood who, whenever he walks his two big dogs, never has them on leashes. They run into neighbors' yards and leave their messes, and he never picks them up. Someone has spoken to him about it, but it has not made a difference. What can be done about this?

A: Your neighbor could be cited for violating two city ordinances: the leash law and the littering law.

The Honolulu Police Department enforces the litter law, including a provision about animals defecating on public or private property, according to Darcie Scharfenstein, spokeswoman for the Hawaiian Humane Society.

Section 29-4.4 (2)(9) of the Revised Ordinances of Honolulu says no person shall "permit an animal owned by such person or while in the person's custody to excrete any solid waste in any public place or on any private premises not the property of such owner," but that "no violation shall occur if the owner of the offending animal promptly and voluntarily removes the animal waste."

The humane society says it has no authority to enforce the litter law and recommends calling HPD directly, at 911, to file a complaint. However, it can help educate the dog owner about the law, Scharfenstein said.

Meanwhile, the humane society can enforce the city's leash law, she said.

Call the humane society at 946-2187 with an address of the owner and a basic description of the dog(s), and it will try to contact him to educate him about the laws.